Our biggest stories of the past week are ...
What can bankers learn from retailers and vice versa?
I organised a fascinating dinner focused upon what banks could learn from retailers the other night. As the evening transpired, various thoughts popped into my head and felt it worth recording them here.
There is no next big thing ...
Speaking at a recent conference about the Bank of 2020, I started to get a little edgy. The moderator was asking repeatedly about The Next Big Thing, and that mobile devices seemed to be about it. The panellists started to touch on the internet of things, Google Glass, wearables, drones and such like, but the whole thing was misguided as THERE IS NO NEXT BIG THING.
Things you need to know before you launch a Digital Bank
I recently presented the Digital Bank story at a conference in Switzerland. As the slides and recording of the pitch are freely available online, readers of this blog are welcome to enjoy …
Earth 2.0: a world ruled by the people, for the people?
I presented this morning the vision of 2035. It’s too long and too much to go into (I had 2 hours to present and got through half my slides!), but the core of the presentation went along the lines of defining Earth 2.0.
Are regulators throwing the baby out with the bathwater?
I don't write a lot about investment banking and capital markets because the readers of this blog are primarily in commercial, transaction and retail banking, but I am going to write about it today as it seems a real shame how we've killed investment banking.
The major general news stories of the past week include ...
Antony Jenkins' email to Barclays staff - The Telegraph
Barclays' chief executive Antony Jenkins has moved to reassure the bank's staff that he is taking a lawsuit over dark pools very seriously. Here is his email in full
Q&A: What are dark pools? - Financial Times
Dark pools have grown in popularity, particularly among institutional investors, as a way to trade large blocks of shares without moving the market
Exclusive: BNP may face one-year ban on processing some dollar payments - sources - Reuters
NEW YORK/PARIS (Reuters) - BNP Paribas is likely to be suspended from converting foreign currencies to dollars on behalf of clients in some businesses for as long as a year, according to sources familiar with the matter, an untested and severe penalty for the French bank accused of persistently violating
Go-ahead for cheque photo plan - BBC
A system that will allow people to pay in a cheque by taking a photo on their smartphone has moved a step closer.
European bank 'hit by cyber-thefts' - BBC
A security firm reports finding evidence of Trojan malware being used to steal money from 190 customers of a major European bank.
Sainsbury's Bank hires 500 staff in travel money push - The Telegraph
Employees will come over from Travelex in the latest example of a supermarket expanding financial services
BNP Paribas 'to pay $9bn over sanctions breach' - The Telegraph
Bank expected to be banned from clearing dollars, most likely for months, hobbling its American operations
Exclusive: £22bn threat to banks in latest mis-selling ‘scandal’ that could rival PPI payouts - The Independent
The Government’s aim of returning the entire Lloyds Banking Group to private ownership before the general election could be blown off-course by another mis-selling scandal.
The shrinking of British banks is bad for their employees, the City and Britain - The Economist
“IT HURTS too much to think about,” says the former head of a big British bank when asked about the retreat of Britain’s banking champions from international markets. “It is such a wasted opportunity.” A senior executive at another big international bank is just as downbeat about London’s ability to attract investment. “The UK is a lot less attractive for us,” he says. “We don’t trust it.”
U.S. sanctions net snares the innocent, burdens business - Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On a Friday afternoon in March, Jose Luis Zamora pulled into a Lexus dealership in Dallas to test-drive a new car with his wife. Ready to pay, Zamora instead waited more than two hours before being informed his name had popped up on a government watchlist that
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Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...
